Stanley 109piece Mechanic Ratchet set - Deal or Not??

the Stanley ratchets are weak. i have seen plenty of failures. the sockets seem to do OK from my experience. i have a hodgepodge of manufacturers in my box from Popular Mechanics to Snap-On and everything in between. One thing i have noticed about import hand tools is that the sockets are sometimes sloppy, which can quickly turn a routine job into a nightmare after rounding off a bolt head.

The few American manufacturers left all make very high quality tools, but they come at a premium. I personally like to recommend Wright Tools. I work for a distribution company and have sold their stuff for almost ten years. They are a 100% American tool company...including the steel used to manufacture. I only have a limited amout of their products due to the cost. all my ratchets are Wright and i havent managed to tear them up yet. Channellock is another 100% domestic brand with one exception being their adjustable wrench, which is made in spain.

i guess the quality of the tools you buy is directly related to your needs/use. i TRY to buy domestic tools if i can afford them, as i only want to buy them once and have them for a lifetime. someone in this thread had mentioned buying older tools at auction...this is a great way to aquire quality stuff at a great price. EBay is another good place to find deals on USA made tools. you might want to find out what distributors are located in your local area for tool manufacturers and try to buy products that you can drive into town and have replaced, rather than having to send them off in the mail or call some stupid 1-800 customer service line.

my personal list of tools i consider to be, or have had experience with that are quality:

Wright Tool (made exclusively in ohio with american steel)
Proto Tools (owned by stanley or Facom ind...not sure on this)
MAC (made by Stanley Mechanics Tool division)
Snap-On (lots of their stuff is made by other companies including Wright)
Klein Tools (very high quality...ask an elcetrician or lineman)
Martin Tool Forge (nice stuff...pricey. make some specialty tools)
Channelock Tools (only channellock pliers in my box are channellock brand)
Cornwell Tools (no personal experience, but very highly reguarded in the industry. make some innovative and specialty tools)
S-K (again, no experience, but have heard good things)
Pratt-Read (they make screwdrivers...the BEST screwdrivers...domestic anyways. make some of Snap-On's line)
Bondhus (only way to go for good allen wrenches)
APEX (used to make great stuff...not sure at the moment...merger with Cooper Group and Danaher recently.)
Armstrong ( i think they are part of APEX. good tools from what i know.)

there is a whole lot of stuff going on behind the scenes in hand tools these days. it's hard to keep up with who owns what and what's manufactured where. just read somewhere that Snap-On owns Kobalt, which is news to me and though the tools are made in the same plants, the design and manuf. processes are quite different.

OP: if you are worried that someone may steal your tools again, i would go with an economical choice. if you want/need quality stuff that you can hang onto, check out Ebay, CL, and local auctions to pick up quality stuff that won't empty your wallet.

to all who read this: I emplore you to buy domestically produced tools. America has lost an alarming portion of manufacturing jobs in recent years and if trends continue, the ONLY American tools you will be able to buy in the future will be used ones.

 

I was wondering about kobalt tools because it seems like their prices are kind of high for what I always figured to be an off brand but if snap-on owns them I can see why they have the higher prices. I am not a motor head meaning I like/kind of need good quality tools but it's not like I make a living off of them nor am I in the garage everyday working on my truck which from what it sounds like a lot of guys on here do..so a decent craftsman tool is fine for me.

 

for the average light user, i'd recommend craftsman tools. They usually are all decent quality, are pretty strong, and have a decent chrome finish. Plus going to the store and replacing something under warranty is a breeze.

Some stuff at harbor freight is absolutely fantastic, but you realy have to be pretty well informed to tell what is and what isn't. A lot of what they sell is useless junk that either won't get the job done, or will break the when you look at it wrong. I've never seen craftsman stuff like that.